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Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book

1898

Page 104 · 2 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Not less than two hours before the cooking is to begin mix four yolks of eggs with four tablespoonfuls of the best salad oil. Incorporate with this mixture thoroughly seven ounces of flour and a saltspoonful of salt. The flour should be dry and of the best quality. Work this now, with care, to a smooth paste, adding sufficient lukewarm water to bring it to the consistency of a thick sauce, and continue to beat it for at least ten minutes. If the batter appears too thick, add a little water until its consistency is satisfactory ; that is, the batter should cover the spoon when lifted out of it with a coating about the eighth of an inch thick. As soon as satisfactory, the mixture should be put in a warmish place, covered with a cloth. Just before using add the froth of two of the whites of the eggsFrying Batter well whipped. For a Frying1 Batter for Sweet Fritters proceed as above, mixing in from one to two ounces of powdered sugar, and from one teaspoonful to two tablespoonfuls of brandy, or liqueur, as liked. A very simple batter for light beignets is made by dropping- one whole egg into one ounce of flour, and working in three tablespoonfuls of milkSimple Batter for Light Beignets. Beat the batter well, let it rest for one hour, fry in boiling suet till quite crisp (from three to four- minutes), take the fritters out with a slice, drain them, and chy them. These can be served with salt, or sugar and lemon as liked. In the frying of all Fritters, as has been before observed, it is most important to do only a few at a time. If too many are put in at once the frying medium will be chilled, and the Fritters will be tough instead of crisp. The French form of frying, called to sauter, is a refined form of English dry frying. Much less fat is used, and the cutlets or joints of chicken are not coated with egg and breadcrumb. A saute-pan is a straight-sided frying-pan. Butter it well, then lay the cutlets in it, add a little glaze, and keep jerking MINOR MATTERS 153 the pan to prevent them from burning, and to ensure their being evenly cooked on both sides. The cutlets should be covered with a buttered paper, and should in consequence of the jerking sauter, or jump and leap, during the whole process of cooking. Hand good brown sauce, or put a tiny pat of maitre d’hotel butter on each cutlet. SOME MINOR MATTERS. The three minor matters in cooking described in this chapter are well worth careful attention, for they are constantly needed, and must all be carried out with the utmost care and neatness. Attention to them shows that a cook is well trained and up to her work quite as much as her skill in any of the larger under- takings described elsewhere.